Question

What is SOD and catalase? What reaction do they catalyze?

Answer 1

Superoxide dismutase, also known as SOD and catalase are the enzymes which protect cells from radical attack. Catalase disproportionates the hydrogen peroxide, and Superoxide dismutase is an oxidoreductase which serves to dismutate the superoxide anion. The objective of this particular communication was to measure the activity of the disproportionating enzymes in the chick tibial growth cartilage and to relate enzyme activity to chondrocyte maturation and the calcification of tissue. Analytic techniques were optimized to measure the both enzymes; particular care was taken to ensure that the values obtained were due to SOD and catalase, not to the presence of other oxidases or contaminants. Catalase and SOD had similar profiles of activity in cartilage. For both of the enzymes, the highest levels of activity were observed in premineralized cartilage; as chondrocytes matured there was a progressive decrease in the activity of SOD and catalase. Comparison of chondrocyte SOD activity with nonmineralizing tissues indicated that the activity of cultured cartilage cells was not high. The SOD activity of avascular chondrodystrophic cartilage and it is found to be less than that of proliferating cartilage. When cartilage was electrofocused, three SOD isozymes were detected. The pI of the major isozyme corresponded to the copper-zinc isoform. The observed changes in enzymatic activity are dependent on a number of cartilage-specific factors that include the vascular supply, the local production of oxygen radicals by chondrocytes, and the oxidative state of the tissue.